Zuckerberg Says Obama Steps on NSA Spying Not Enough

Facebook (FB) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg left a meeting with President Barack Obama unsatisfied with administration assurances that the government can protect privacy while continuing surveillance.

Zuckerberg and five other Internet and technology executives were invited to the White House Friday to discuss National Security Agency spying following revelations the NSA may have infected millions of computers globally with malware to advance surveillance.

"While the U.S. government has taken helpful steps to reform its surveillance practices, these are simply not enough," Facebook said in a statement released after the meeting. "People around the globe deserve to know that their information is secure and Facebook will keep urging the U.S. government to be more transparent about its practices and more protective of civil liberties."

Facebook, Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) are among the companies that have been pressing the administration to restrain spying following revelations about the extent of NSA surveillance and data collection by fugitive former contractor Edward Snowden. The NSA's global sweep also has drawn protest from other nations, including NATO ally Germany.

Obama has said his administration already ended some of the surveillance practices disclosed by Snowden and in January promised further restraints while defending spying as a bulwark against terrorism.

Security Needs

At Friday's meeting, Obama told the executives he wants to balance security needs with online privacy, %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%updating them on changes made since his Jan. 17 directive and about a review on so-called big data being conducted by adviser John Podesta, according to a White House statement released after the meeting.

Obama told them he's committed to "taking steps that can give people greater confidence that their rights are being protected while preserving important tools that keep us safe," according to the statement.

Zuckerberg was joined at the meeting by Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, and CEOs Reed Hastings of Netflix (NFLX), Drew Houston of Dropbox, Alex Karp of Palantir Technologies and Aaron Levie of Box, according to the White House.

Lisa Gordon, a spokeswoman for Palantir, said she wouldn't issue a comment on the meeting because it was an off-the-record session.

Yahoo (YHOO) Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer was invited to attend the meeting yet declined because she couldn't make it on short notice. The company will remain part of the discussions going forward, according to a company spokeswoman. Microsoft (MSFT), LinkedIn (LNKD) and Twitter also weren't represented because their chief executives couldn't make it.

Zuckerberg's Post

The meeting was arranged after Zuckerberg said he called Obama to express his frustration over the government's spying.

"The U.S. government should be the champion for the Internet, not a threat," Zuckerberg wrote in a March 13 post on his Facebook page. "They need to be much more transparent about what they're doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst."

Zuckerberg's comments followed reports that the NSA may have infected computers with malware and disguised itself as a Facebook server to gain access to users' data for spying, according to documents leaked by former government contractor Edward Snowden to the online news site The Intercept.

The meeting also preceded a March 28 deadline under which Obama is seeking recommendations to end the NSA's collection of bulk phone records. Internet companies are closely watching what Obama decides to do about the collection of bulk phone records, because the spying is done under a broad authority that could also include the interception of Internet data, said a person familiar with Friday's gathering who wasn't authorized to speak on the record.

More Disclosure

In January, Google, Apple and other technology companies won U.S. permission to disclose more about government orders for customer data, a step they sought to fortify their reputations after revelations about their role in U.S. spying.

Companies including Apple, which was the first to report details allowed under the agreement with the Justice Department, are permitted to say broadly how many accounts are covered by government requests and whether the content of users' communications was sought.

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Why Your Bank Thinks Someone Stole Your Credit Card

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Zuckerberg Says Obama Steps on NSA Spying Not Enough

One reason why Marquis' gas purchases might have triggered a fraud lockdown? Filling their tank is a common first move for credit card thieves.

"Some of the things they look at are small-dollar transactions at gas stations, followed by an attempt to make a larger purchase," explains Adam Levin of Identity Theft 911.

The idea is that thieves want to confirm that the card actually works before going on a buying spree, so they'll make a small purchase that wouldn't catch the attention of the cardholder. Popular methods include buying gas or making a small donation to charity, so banks have started scrutinizing those transactions.

Of course, it's not a simple matter of buying gas or giving to charity -- if those tasks triggered alerts constantly, no one would do either with a credit card. But Levin points to another possible explanation: Purchases made in a high-crime area are going to be held to a higher standard by the bank.

"It's almost a form of redlining," he says. "If there are certain [neighborhoods] where they've experienced an enormous amount of fraud, then anytime they see a transaction in the neighborhood, it sends an alert."

(Indeed, Erin tells me that one of the gas purchases that triggered an alert took place in a rough part of Detroit, which she visited specifically for the cheap gas.)

People who steal credit cards and credit card numbers usually aren't doing it so they can outfit their home with electronics and appliances. They don't want the actual products they're fraudulently buying; they're just in it to make money. So banks are always on the lookout for purchases of items that can easily be re-sold.

"Anytime a product can be turned around quickly for cash value, those are going to be the items that you would probably assume that, if you were a thief, you would want to get to first," says Karisse Hendrick of the Merchant Risk Council, which helps online merchants cut down on fraud. Levin says electronics are common choices for fraudsters, as are precious metals and jewelry.

Many thieves don't want to go through the rigmarole of buying laptops and jewelry, then selling them online or at pawnshops. They'd much prefer to just turn your stolen card directly into cold, hard cash.

There are a few ways that they can do that, and all of them will raise red flags at your bank or credit union. Using a credit card to buy a pricey gift card or load a bunch of money on a prepaid debit card is a fast way to attract the suspicions of your credit card issuer. Levin adds that some identity thieves also use stolen or cloned credit cards to buy chips at a casino, which they can then cash out (or, if they're feeling lucky, gamble away).

When assessing whether a purchase might be fraudulent, banks aren't just looking at what you bought and where you bought it. They're also asking if it's something you usually buy.

"The issuers know the buying patterns of a cardholder," says Hendrick. "They know the typical dollar amount of transaction and the type of purchase they put on a credit card."

Your bank sees a fairly high percentage of your purchases, so it knows if one is out of character for you. A thrifty individual who suddenly drops $500 on designer clothes should expect to get a call -- or have to make one when the bank flags the transaction. If you rarely travel and your card is suddenly used to purchase a flight to Europe, that's going to raise some red flags.

Speaking of Europe, the other big factor in banks' risk equations is whether you're making a purchase in a new area. I bought a computer just days after moving from Boston to New York, and had to confirm to the bank that I was indeed trying to make the purchase. Levin likewise says that making purchases in two different cities over a short period of time raises suspicions.

"I go from New York to California a lot, and invariably someone will call me [from the bank], " he says. Since one person can't go shopping in New York and California at the same time, any time a bank sees multiple purchases in multiple locations in a short period, it's going to be suspicious.